% MR, J. T. CUNNINGHAM ON MARINE FISHES [Jail. 18, 



reaching a quarter of their length beyond the commencement of 

 the dorsal ; pelvic (ventral) fins about half the length of the 

 pectoral. Caudal emargina/te and wide. Caudal peduncle very, 

 nearly half the length of the head, its height contained 1| times 

 in its length. Body oblong ovate, slightly compressed. Mouth 

 rather small, angle of the gape extending to below the vertical 

 from anterior margin of orbit. Posterior end of maxilla exposed 

 with small supplemental bone. Coloration brown above, paler 

 below. 



The above description is taken from a single specimen 

 measuring from the snout to the end of the middle caudal rays 

 72 cm. or 28^ inches, its greatest depth of body being 21*5 cm. or 

 85- inches. It was brought to me by some fishermen who called 

 it a cod and said it had been taken in an albacore-boat, which 

 would imply that it had been caught at a depth of 70 to 80 fathoms 

 off the south-west point of the island. It was already eviscerated 

 when I received it, even the gills having been" cut away. I was 

 therefore unable to examine the oesophagus to ascertain whether 

 the tooth-bearing lateral sacs were present ; but the external 

 characters are so similar to those of other members of the family 

 Stromateidse that there can be no doubt that the fish belongs to 

 that family. The peculiar character of the dorsal fin is so 

 different from that of previously known species that I was for 

 some time inclined to propose a new genus for the fish, but in its 

 other characters it agrees so closely with the species of Leirus 

 that I have decided for the present to place it in that genus. 

 The generic characters of the Stromateidse, as given by Tate 

 Regan in his revision of the family, are in most cases not very 

 strongly marked ; thus my specimen in many of its characters 

 resembles species of Seriolella, especially S. velaini as described 

 and figured by Sauvage, as much as it does the species of Leirus. 

 It has similar falciform pectorals and the scales are not deciduous ; 

 these characters occur, however, also in some species of Leirtis. 

 In fact, the only character distinguishing Leirus and Centrolophus 

 from Seriolella and other genera is that in the two former the 

 lateral line becomes straight before reaching the caudal peduncle, 

 and my specimen possesses this character. The spines of the 

 dorsal fin are reduced and variable in the family generally and in 

 Leirus in particular, and it is possible that in younger and 

 smaller specimens of the St. Helena species an anterior spinous 

 portion of the dorsal may exist, although there is no sign of this 

 in my specimen, and in other species, such as Leirus ovalis, the 

 larger specimens have not lost the anterior spines ; on the other 

 hand, these spines are known to disappear with age in some 

 species of the Carangidse. The separation of Centrolophus from 

 Leirus is not founded on very well marked characters, but merely 

 on the greater elongation of the body and the slipping of the 

 maxilla under the preorbital wdiich is a matter of slight degree. 

 Regan adds another character, namely, that each scale is pierced 

 by a pore, but I have found on examination of specimens in the 



